I nod once to the pile of burning bodies and turn back to the carriage, smiling slightly to Caline's concern as she begins fixing my own clothing. I give her a gentle kiss and smile a bit more, "I'm not too bad off. Your spells made the difference once more. I would hate to think of how bad things could have been...as far as surrendering? How could I do a thing like that?" I wrap my arms around her and whisper to her more quietly, "besides, did you want to sleep with him?" I smile again and start back to the piles of items. Time to sort the useful from the useless.

One of the last items I pick up for detailed examination is the map. Upon opening it I give a long, low whistle, talking in common, "well...that's interesting..." I look to the group speculatively for a long moment. The human with the daggers certainly hadn't done much to ingratiate herself. The...bear one and the snake took care of things rather well, but the one with the daggers...I ponder her for a moment.

It didn't appear they were part of any sort of preexisting group, though the dagger one seems to be doing her best to appeal to them, though I would not be surprised in the slightest if she were trying to gain their aid against my sister and I. She had already invited them to destroy us once, and seemed more than happy to abandon us to our fates...

I sigh and look meaningfully to Caline before walking toward the larger group a few steps, but staying a reasonable distance away. When it looks that they've reached a lull in their conversation I gently clear my throat, striking a rather heroic pose, "excuse me, but would any of you be particularly familiar with the area of Elsir Vale?"

((Description: Caline and Tahline are identical twins, though easily discernible from one another by hair styles and vague differences in eye colors, not to mention wardrobe. Tahline keeps her appearances to what would be viewed as the more traditional swashbuckler, save that she has a tail. Perhaps a bit...quirky, but fighting on the side of goodness. Something along the lines of:

I smile at her and whisper right back into Tahline's ear, with a gentle hug. "I guess that's a good point, though I was thinking invisibility at the right point would have been about perfect. Or perhaps an...acceleration spell on the horses. But I understand your meaning."

I go through the things with her, examining them for any magical auras and setting those aside. The weapons would be useful, at least. But when the map came out...I couldn't read goblin, but something looked bad, and Tahline could read it. Her look made me sigh, and I tried to make certain to look distracted, but I was ready to drop another acceleration spell on the pair of us should any of them choose to attack.

"And it's wonderful to meet you, Aerynnel. And your wolf, Lakota too. I'm kind of hurt, but..." and here she clutched a bit at a her side, trying very hard to look as if she were hiding her wound, when in fact she was really just emphasizing it, "...if it's any trouble, don't worry about it. I can probably just give it a few days rest, and it should start to heal. No need to go to any trouble on my behalf. I'm just glad your friend didn't get hurt there. Those goblins seemed really interested in hurting the poor thing."

"Don't be ridiculous, child, let me see." Aerynnel examined Lyra's wound closely then laid her hand over it. When she took her hand away, the cut was no longer open and bleeding, but still bruised and red with irritation. (Cure light wounds heals 9 points of damage)

"You'll live, although it may not feel that way, tomorrow." With that, she turned to the snake-woman, listening intently to her words. Aerynnel was hesitant to open up to complete strangers, and opted not to reveal her own feelings. She felt that this woman could hold some valuable information, however, about these horrible feelings she'd been having of late.

"A mission of your elders, you say? What's sort of mission? I must say that I am confused by your words. You said that your people felt you were a danger to them? Is that really why they sent you away?" Aerynnel pondered that for a moment, waiting for answers.

Martel paused to consider the druid's words, a little uncertainly, thinking back over her own phrasing. There had been a miss communication here, it seemed. A dangerous thing, though a small creature, easily slain if it could be rooted out.

"Oh, no, my apologies, my words were unclear. I meant that the people of the village ahead may consider me the threat, as opposed to letting me search for it. I fear I don't have much to go on myself... Just a vision, a premonition handed down from the elders."

She explained, hopefully rectifying the misunderstanding. She glanced over at one of the... Tailed girls, blinking.

"Though I fear I know this area not at all, just that the town ahead is likely the one I am looking for, if my travels have lead me right."

Lyra smiled thankfully as Aerynnel attended to her wounds. "That's very kind of you." She didn't say much more, instead choosing to listen as the snake-woman and druid talked. After some time and explanation, she added, "We can always vouch for you. Let the people of the village know that you're not bad at all...you know?"

Aerynnel nodded as Martel spoke, now gently stroking Lakota's fur. "Ahh... I see. Yes, prejudice abounds in all parts of the world. Can you tell me more about this danger to your village? And your mission?" She gazed at Martel with interest.

"Well, I fear there is not much I can tell about the danger. The shaman had a premonition and a location, a general guideline where to go, I was sent because... The details remain unknown, it was my duty to discover more about the circumstances."

The snake woman said evenly, sighing.

"I just hope I can figure out something once I arrive, though the danger is great there is no guarantee it will make itself evident."

I smile to the rather interesting snake woman, speaking with the others and nod once, "I understand. We ourselves are merely travelers ourselves. The reason I ask..." I pull the map out, unfurling it as if to examine it for a moment before turning it to them briefly, "is that it appears our ugly little friends here had more than simple banditry to mind." I turn it back around, looking it over again, "it rather appears that they have it in mind to guide some sort of large force against the local capital."

I re-roll the map, passing it back to my sister. "I believe we, at least," I gesture to indicate my sister and our carriage, "have a duty to report this to the locals at the least and see to it that something is done." I look pointedly to the dagger wielding human, my eyes hard, "or would you rather...how did you say?" I give a feigned smile, talking in her voice, "leave them! They're not worth saving!" My voice returns to it's more normal tone, albeit chilled. "I believe that is what you said, is it not?"

Lyra frowned as Tahline spoke. "Well, you know, while we were out here fighting, you were making deals with the hobgoblins. Instead of helping me while I was set upon and surrounded, you were striking bargains with them." She pushed stray, red hair from her face. "I do speak goblin too, you know. I could hear everything you and that big one were saying." Lyra rolled her eyes. "It just seemed to me like you didn't really need any help at all. How was I supposed to know you weren't planning to turn against us? That, or maybe you were too cowardly or disinterested in the rest of us to fight, so I figured it wasn't worth risking my life for you."

Turning away from Tahline dismissively, she said, "She's right though. We might want to let someone know that these..." and here she paused, looking at Martel "...brigands are organized."

I give a forced smile and clear my throat, "excuse me...miss human with the daggers, but I wasn't done speaking with you, and I will not accept anyone speaking to my sister and I like that."

"If you do speak goblin, perhaps then you caught that he was the one that initiated the offer. I was trying to use his distraction to my advantage and coordinate with Caline. If you spoke celestial and abyssal you may have caught that part of the conversation. Not only did you take my commentary out of context, but declared to all and sundry that we were not worth saving. Had the mage taken your commentary as sufficient call to burn our carriage and kill our servants I would...be forced to take rather more pointed measures. As it was, had the leader scored another hit or two like he had been I would have been on the ground rather than him. Instead, I did manage to fell him, and in your gratitude you fled leaving your foe to me. If this is how you work with strangers I fear how it is you fight with allies."

I give a slightly more honest smile, tilting my head to one side a bit, "all that being said, I think at the very least an apology is owed to my sister and I for your vocal and false accusations."

Aerynnel steps between the two feuding women. "Ladies, please! Isn't there a more important matter on which to focus on... can you not let this go? Are you honestly going to allow a misunderstanding to dictate your actions? Do as you must, but there is a very real danger to this area that transcends your personal differences." And she turns to Martel.

"I, too, have sensed this danger you speak of. It is on the wind, in the sound of the rustling leaves; the animals flee from apparently nothing, but they know."

Raising her voice slightly, she addresses the others. "For your safety, for the safety of your homes and family, this must be dealt with. We must find out more and I see no better place to start than here. Come or stay, but I am going. Balance must be protected." She and Lakota walk away from the group toward the town.

Martel looks over the map, and then listens to the bickering females, shaking her head, before turning to follow the druid. She was of much the same sentiments, though she was uncertain she truly wanted the feuding entities at her side, she likely needed help to discover the full nature of the danger they looked to face.

Lyra waited until the druid and snake woman had traveled some distance away. Then the human girl turned, fully regarding Tahline. Her voice was much colder and less whimsical than it had been when the others were in ear shot. "My allies are those who come to my aid when I'm being set upon. The wolf, the druid, and the snake woman all went out of their way to make sure I didn't end up in that pile of burning bodies." Lyra pointed over to the low blaze the twins had set. "If you want me to care what happens to you, I expect that the next time we get into a fight, you don't just sit around talking while the rest of us bleed for your distraction."

Once she was done, the human girl turned and ran away from Tahline, not waiting for a reply. "Hey, wait for me!" she called, her voice sweet again. She slowed her pace after she had caught up with Aerynnel and Martel. "Since we're all umm, headed the same way...we should travel together. Besides, I have so many questions!"

I wait, a bit impatient for them to get on with things. But the replies...well, they made me somewhat foul tempered and disgusted. If it wasn't for Tahline...I shake my head, bundling everything up and setting it in the carriage, and unhitching a horse to drag the cart out of the way. I wait until all of them are some distance away before speaking to sis, calmly. "It's as if she expects us to help her, Sis. I'm half tempted to burn the map and leave, but that wouldn't be fair to the villages around here. Why don't we go through, warn them, and continue on the way? I don't know what it says, but we have time, right?"

I watch them wandering off and sigh, shaking my head and heading back to the carriage with Caline. After helping her with getting the cart off the road I listen to her commentary and shrug a little. Responding in celestial, "oh, I have no doubt she expects us to aid her. She seems to feel that the only way to fight is with the point of the blade, and has not bothered to learn otherwise." I give a slightly lopsided grin, "save fighting through manipulation, which, it seems, is only fair when applied by her. Tell me...did her actions not seem, perhaps, a little...over the top? As if she were trying to convince the others of her virtues?"

I pull the map back out, unrolling it against the wagon, "I'm...worried about what this says." I trace the road we're on along to Drellin's Ferry. "From the looks of this, the road past the ferry is blocked by someone...Ozyrrendion?" I trace a while further up the road, "this is the one that's more concerning though. 'All tribes muster here under Kharn'. I'm not certain how many 'all' is, but given who we got this off of, it seems likely they're tribes of hobgoblins." My finger moves back to Drellin's Ferry, "and it shows here 'attack day 5'. Now, I don't know when day 1 is. It may be today, it may be in a week, it may have been 5 days ago, hence running into these...unpleasant gentlemen." I sigh and roll up the map again, turning to lean back against the carriage.

"I dunno, sis...lets see what the village is like and...maybe we can scout ahead or something...see what exactly is coming. Something...something about this isn't feeling right. And given the way the one woman was...I don't trust her. Something rings untrue about her. I may be misreading her, but she could also be as much a danger to the town as the hobgoblins." I glance around the plains around us, "I worry that these villagers won't be able to defend themselves. This is farm land. Not encampments of warriors or a rugged fortress on the edge of the frontier."

I toss the map in on the other items in the carriage before climbing to the drivers bench, offering a hand for Caline to come up with. "On the plus side, according to the map we should be fairly close to the ferry."

I shrug, helping get everything out of the way. As we finish, I respond in kind, giving her a tight hug. "I don't know on her, I wasn't really paying attention. Though part of me wonders if she was specifically trying to draw others into the ambush. Don't really know, though."

I look at the map, identifying a few of the features, at least, even if I can't read it. After listening, and watching what she was showing, my frown grew deeper and deeper, and I hug her tightly. Wavering back and forth, I sigh and reply. "I guess you're right, Sis. I just don't want anything to do with her. Everything she did, and everything she said...I can't trust her not to put a dagger in my back. I'm willing to help the town, you know that. I just won't have anything to do with her."

I giggle and give her a hug and a gentle kiss, eyes dancing amusedly, "you're willing to help the town because you hope there might be some cute girl there that might...express her gratitude?" I stick out my tongue a bit, waiting for the inevitable slap for that.

"Shall we get going then? I'm sure our friends could use a rest at a proper inn, and getting to the proper authorities would be good. But lets not kill the horses getting there?"

I give Sis a level look, though tinged with concern as I reply, softly, and not slapping her. "I'm willing to help the town because you want to help the town, and it isn't any danger, really. And I agree, we should head for town. I don't want to lose our girls either."

The road continues for only a few miles, to the town of Drellin's Ferry. A reasonably sized town of about a thousand, it's the main route for traders, heading along the Dawn Way, and the last bastion of civilization for quite a distance, going the way our heroes are traveling. Six stone piers just from the water of the wide, sluggish river, marking where a bridge once stood, though it is now long gone. In its place, thick ropes span the river, with a ferryboat that runs between the shores.

At the gate, four townsfolk stand guard, three in leather, and one in mail. One of the men in leather steps forward, as the mixed group approaches, warily saying, "Halt! State your business here, travelers!"

The girl walked with the snake-woman and the druid for some time. Eventually (making an assumption here), the twin's carriage caught up with them, though they were not far from the approaching town. It seemed that they were all headed to the same place. Frowning just a little, Lyra spoke up, "You know, maybe we should share this news with the town as a group, since we did kind of fight off the bandits together. I'm not certain on those two, but they don't seem all that bad...not really. Kind of impulsive, maybe a little bit flighty...but capable, right?"

She was describing her own fictional persona as well, and the irony was not lost on her. The guards stepped forward just as the two groups, one on foot and the other traveling by carriage, intersected. She waited to let the others speak for them, content to be part of a larger group...if that's what they were becoming. It was always easier and safer to fit into new places when she was not subjected to focused scrutiny. The herd provided safety.

I sigh slightly as we catch up with the other group, looking them over and catching snippets of their conversation. I glance out of the corner of my eye to Caline, raising an eyebrow slightly. In celestial, "do you suppose we can...cooperate with them long enough to sort out what is going on here?" I smile a touch, "it may prove convenient, for a while. And would give us ample opportunity to...return any favors?"

I nod to the group as we pull along side, heading toward the gates of the town, blinking slightly at being stopped by the guards.

I smile brightly, standing atop the carriage, and gesture to my sister and the rest of the group, "we are but simple adventurers, good sir, come to your town with news. We encountered a band of hobgoblin brigands not more than a few hours travel from here, from whom we retrieved certain items of worth and an item I think your captain of the guard would be wont to see." I flash him a winning smile, "if you would care to go and fetch him, we would have no qualm with the wait."

I keep my tail out of sight for the time being. One can never be too certain how townsfolk in smaller towns will react to such...curiosities.

I giggle at Tahline as she speaks in celestial. It always amuses me that we use it to speak to each other so often. But the contents of the speech...those were not such a happy thing. I sigh, glance balefully for an instant at the redhead, and reply to her softly in the same language, my tone resigned. "Very well, sis. If you insist. I am not going to be alone with her under any circumstances, though! Oh, a question...do you think the snake woman is related to cousin Veradix?"

"Hobgoblins? Where? Those savages have been raiding the area nearby for weeks... I'm surprised you survived!" "Actually, you'd best go see Captain Soranna, at the Old Toll House. You can see it from here, just a little ways up the road. Tell her about the bandits, and anything of value you found."

Martel moves along with the group, nodding to the guards, hoping she would be able to simply pass with them, hoping her appearance and general lack of garments would take minimal fuss and trouble. She had received too much trouble from humans to assume this will go easily, but she could hope, staying quiet, moving with the adventurers, to be associated with them and left alone.

I nod to the guards and turn to look at the town, scanning for the building that he mentioned before looking to Caline, my tail moving restfully. "I think I see it. Head the carriage in that direction." I turn back to the guards and give them a slight bow, "thank you. We'll speak with...captain Soranna did you say? And let her know what we found. Be careful this eve...I fear the ones we encountered are likely not the only ones."